years later did the puppet regime in saigon fall. however, the vietnamese paid a high price for their freedom. more than 1000000 vietnamese people became the victims of american aggressors. ah, china slammed the u. s. for shooting down its weather balloon which floated over their territory. despite its numerous warnings, the airship does not pose any threat for american security. also ahead with less than a teaspoon of dry anthrax, a little bit about this amount. this is just about the amount of a taste we have 1st and descriptions of biological weapons factories on wheels and on rails replies that have played the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent iraqis, 20 years since the u. s. c. and they've been over at the u. n. we continue our special coverage of the legacy left behind the devastating war. a former chief,

un weapons inspector, rod unveils the approval of washington in the united states. government had no intention allowing the inspectors to do their job. the united states was going to go to war with iraq regard. regardless, it doesn't matter what the truth was. and a more successful, we inspectors became disarming. iraq. the more threat we posed to the american policy and, and iraq, the journalist who threw his shoes, that then president george w bush, became a symbol of protest against us invasion across the world. he told us his message to the man responsible for thousands of iraqi death. and i wish to say to former u. s. president bush that i wish to see you in prison before you die. and if that does not happen, i wish before i die to see you face real condemnation with

ah, good afternoon for martine or national suitors and moscow, and welcome to the weekly with the hour and weeks most pressing you stories worldwide. i'm fiorella isabel. beijing has condemned the a u. s. the attack on a chinese balloon, which had been floating over u. s. territory for several days, despite its previous warnings at the balloon is not capable of surveillance and does not pose any threats. china re stromey dissatisfied with the u. s. attack on a chinese, on monday ship invoices it's protest. we have repeatedly informed the u. s. site that the balloons design purely for civilian use, an accidentally across the u. s. borders. in such circumstances, the u. s. use of force is an obvious overreaction and a violation of international practice. finally, after days of deliberation and doubt, us find 2 jets of short time. what they claim is a chinese spy bloom by aging, of course denies this. it says that it was a web, whether observation balloon, although there is some confusion over whose recommendation it was to,

to shoot down the balloon and listen to what us president joe biden told you in this area. successfully took it down and i want to accomplish on our aviators or did it. and we'll have more to report on this a little later. thank you. okay, bye bye. now on the same recommendation from your what's on your next slide, hold down a wednesday. i was like a recommendation said to me, let's wait to look, take this place to do it. some are already asking questions over the timing of the incident. it came just ahead of a time visit by the u. s. equity estate, the blink and to china. now that was subsequently cancelled or was he says, indefinitely postpone, but by junior said, now is the time for co heads and it continues to insist on diplomacy. some politicians and media in the us have hiked it up to attack in smith, china. the chinese side is firmly opposed to that one of the tasks, of a diplomatic teams on both sides is to properly manage bilateral relations,

particularly to manage some on expected situations in a cool headed and prudent manner. well, i think just in another statement since by a blink and cancel his visit page in his head, china has never violated the territory and space of another sovereign country. but of course, the u. s. and western media has waited no time in ratcheting up the anti china rhetoric and the supposed threat posed by beijing in a twist. now, the pentagon is now claiming that chinese spy balloons flew over u. s. territory on at least 3 occasion occasions under the trump administration. now, our former u. s. defense sexy mark hesper said. he was surprised by this statement from the pentagon and he said he was never informed of such incidents during his time in, in office. but we now have a former u. s. defense and military officials have described the latest incident as embarrassing, especially given that the u. s. is the world's leading military power and opposition. republican party members have now they've got on the offensive,

and they've accused biden of not acting decisively enough. and they say that he's fail to protect american national security. let's have a listen to what they've said. i friend robert o'brien, former national security adviser. why aren't we taking action to deal with this in widen? we know a bad at robert o'brien, larry, this is one of those embarrassing things i've ever seen. and in american diplomacy, we sped trillions and trillions of dollars on hardware and soldiers on airmen, on sailors. and we can't do anything about it. why was this allowed to go clear across the country for so many days? if you look at this, national security is one of these things that any country can do. it is a core function of government. we see that the biden administration knew about this sir balloon days ago, and it seems that there was an opportunity when i was coming over islands in alaska that we could have taken it down now, cause china denies that the balloon was carrying out term surveillance and the u. s

. navy is currently searching for the wreckage of the balloon. we can expect to hear more from that over the coming coming hours. but the, the, the, the claims of the threat posed by china are something of double standards. let's not forget, it was just last summer that the us house of representatives speak, and nancy pelosi inflamed tensions with a provocative visit to taiwan witcher, beijing said was in breach of the one china policy, which of course is supported by washington, which has also flooded the island with millions of dollars in arms, i think reco spending levels and bite and himself has threatened military action to defend taiwan from china. and the u. s. has continue to say, oh, battle ships down the south china sea. and is it cues itself of undermining regional stability with the signing of the all because packed with the security packed with britain, australia, when 2021 which is containing china's military power. but of course,

this latest incident is a new blow to the already tense us china relations. earlier we spoke with nelson wong, vice chairman of the shanghai center for rim pac and international studies. he says china has no need to use such balloons as surveillance devices. they say is apparently not a pleasant incident. i don't believe it is. why is for anybody to make a big fuss on it? because the chinese government has confirmed, in the 1st place that they see below all this ship or zeppelin, what have you call it is from china and china fails regret for its intended entry into u. s. s. space. china has enough satellites already in china, wants to do any surveillance. why should they use the pollutants, which are so big and so obvious? now, i don't think this connection makes any sense. so let's see. i mean,

we're all have to watch and see. but whatever the case, i think the wisdom of both countries, leaders and i've all depressed and now put to the test. ah, it's been 20 years since the us invasion of iraq. and here at r t, we continue special coverage of the anniversary, examining the devastation and destabilization of the war cause throughout the middle east. at this hour, american and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm iraq, to free its people. and to defend the world from great awe

with food medicines and sleeping with to day also marks 20 years since then. u. s. secretary of state pushed military action and arrived at the un security council. an episode well known for his display of a vial in an attempt to prove allegations of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in iraq. that claim later proved to be false. one of the most worrisome things that emerges from the thick intelligence file we have on iraq's biological weapons is the existence of mobile production facilities used to make biological agents. we have 1st hand descriptions of biological weapons,

factories on wheels and on rails. it felt like justifying an invasion of iraq to the world. mattered that much to the u. s. though, after all, then president george w bush already had plans to invade the sovereign middle east or nation claims that baghdad was stock piling, illegal weapons and developing its nuclear program war aplenty, and the catch fear, phrase, weapons of mass destruction had already been popularized. evidence. however, was either lacking or in powells case, fabricated like the vile of white powder he so confidently waved in the world's face. as he accused saddam hussein of having amassed titanic reserves of chemical weapons when a rack finally admitted. having these weapons in 1995, the quantities were vast. less than a teaspoon of dry anthrax, a little bit about this amount. this is just about the amount of a teaspoon. less than a t spoonful of dry anthrax in an envelope shut down the united states senate in

the fall of 2001. this forced several 100 people to undergo emergency medical treatment and killed 2 postal workers. powell pointed the finger at faulty intelligence after it became clear that there was no merits to america's accusations. he said he was very disappointed. i'm very concerned when i made that presentation in february 2003. it was based on the best information that the central intelligence agency made available to me. but it turned out that the sourcing was inaccurate in wrong and in some cases, deliberately misleading. and for that i am disappointed and i regret it. oh, how quickly the u. s. is closest ally jumped into the blood bath at washington's command, but when all was said and done, former british prime minister tony blair said it was all in good faith since the west needed to bring down evil saddam after tried to deflect blame. though blair also said he was very sorry, i did not mislead this country. i made

a decision in good faith on the information i had at the time. and i believe that it is better that we took that decision and a nation whose people we wanted to set free and secure from the evil of sedan, became instead victim to sectarian terrorism. for all of this, i express more sorrow, regret, and apology, than you may have no will complete. other world leaders sensed something foul from the get go, which is why powell thought fit to give his speech. in the 1st place, france, germany and russia all decided they would vote against the u. s. s hawkish initiative that the united nations voted on for the creek. the world is close to war. my question was in still us does, is the threat coming from the iraqi dictator justify a war,

a war which will kill thousands of children, women and men 1000? my answer is no. don't tell us what is your stars no matter what? the circumstances will vote no because we consider at this time that there is no place for going toward to achieve the object of that. we all want at the moment, which is the disarmament of iraq volume. the extra approach iraq military action against iraq is a huge political mistake. i already sat above the humanitarian side of the ship. on top of that, the un former chief weapons inspector to iraq, scott ritter said iraq capability to have weapons of mass destruction had been eliminated by december of 9998. it's no wonder writer, saw pals, accusations against baghdad, as relying only on circumstantial evidence. paul just keeps hitting you with circumstantial evidence and he confuses people and he lied. he lied to people. he misled people. fabricating evidence, flying, killing hundreds of thousands of people. another stark reminder of the length

washington is willing to go to the success of its foreign policy agenda. is that steak and 20 years after the u. s. evasion of iraq. we asked thought reader, what was behind power claims at the un security council? the former chief un weapons inspector to iraq, says washington never had any intention to let the experts do their job as iraq's this argument was. the last thing the us really wanted. i was brought in to help create an intelligence organization that would assist the special commission and evaluating the accuracy of the iraqi declarations about what weapons of mass destruction they had. you see, i thought that the mission of the special commission was to disarm i. rec, and, and we worked in a very assiduous manner to carry out that mission. but it turned out that the disarmament of iraq was the last thing the united states wanted. the united states was going to go to war with iraq, regardless. regardless,

it doesn't matter what the truth was. so i addressed the iraqi parliament. they gave a speech that wasn't pre screened. and as a speech, a said, if you don't let weapons inspectors back in your country will be destroyed, you have to let them back in without any pre conditions. said some sans, going to let weapons inspectors back. and i one i succeeded. and so when i came out is the exact opposite, feels like inspectors are going to be allowed back. and i said, yes, you can't talk about going to war with iraq unless you allow the inspectors to complete their job. if i rack kicks inspectors out again, if a rec doesn't cooperate, then you have justification to accuse a rack of bad stuff. but you must let the inspectors do their job. on the, maybe i was a little naive. maybe the iraqis were because the united states government had no intention allowing the inspectors to do their job. the bottom line is, america's policy wasn't disarmament. but regime change, and the more successful we inspectors became in disarming iraq. the more threat we posed to the american policy of regime change and so when weapons inspection teams

left iraq in $1098.00, the world was blind. which means that when colin powell gave his presentation to the united nations security council in february of 2003, it wasn't just misleading. it was deliberately misleading. he knew what he was saying was false. and as a result, we went to war 5 years after the beginning of the iraq occupation by us forces. then president george w bush proudly visited baghdad. but grateful residence of the war torn country did not give him the welcome. he apparently counted on, as the former president had to duck from the infamous shoes thrown at his face. ah ah

a fun. and if you looked at his face yellow and twitching, you could see the embarrassment. he was so scared. so i don't think his smile was normal as for the shoes. i demanded them when i was with the investigating judge. i told him you can do whatever you want with me, but i want my shoes. the next day he told me that the shoes had been destroyed in case they contained explosives. but when i was transferred to court for my trial, the ordered by an iraqi army division, the divisions commander sat beside me. he asked me, do you know why they destroyed the shoes? i told him i heard they did so because they feared they contained explosives. he said, no, i was there as a security guard for the president. and they said that they were destroyed so that they would not turn into a symbol every one who participated in the occupation of iraq and supported the occupation of iraq shared the fate of george bush in this makes me happy. a group

of beneficiaries of the american occupation said that the shoot throwing incident shows us as undeveloped people. but on the 2nd day there was a rally outside the white house with people carrying shoes and hitting pictures of the former president bush. later it was the prime minister of australia, john howard, then the prime minister of spain, who participated in the war, berlusconi, et cetera. and then it became a symbol of protests in the face of every tyrant. and anyone who wants to colonize earth, ah, when ah, model is up, they separated the body from the soul, removing the skin from the flesh and the flesh from the bone. they have other methods, like electrocution, beating, flogging and breaking bones,

thought. what i went through may be less than what others have been through in iraqi detention facilities after the invasion. the hardest memory was when i was with other detainees, because i saw the inequality, the innocent people, and victims of the secret informants and the american occupation. the imprisonment of those who resisted this is a painful and disturbing memory for anyone. with for london, nicky, we woke up at dawn when the farms began falling on baghdad. it was a shock and awe strategy. there was actually shock. what could we do initially? i thought about my family, my studies, and everything else. it remains a bad memory with more memories coming after the american soldier does not defend his land and fights in a land that has thousands of miles away from his country. therefore,

they know for sure that they are wrong. we used to see it in their eyes when they interrogated and detained us. they were either very aggressive to justify their existence on your land, or very shy, trying not to look at you while saying they are wrong, many occupants, when we told them you are occupying our country, couldn't respond. they just shook their heads as if to say, what can we do? ah, woe once an american journalist asked me a question, was in saddam hussein's dictatorship, tough, but based on logic and common sense. one can say that vicious dictatorships worldwide do justify occupation. even if there is a dictator, the earth is full of dictatorships and oppressors. did america invade iraq for the benefit of iraq or to topple saddam hussein and to whom will america hand over power to the marines? are a group of corrupt people brought in by america itself. many iraqis did not welcome

the americans, even though at the time to be honest, there was injustice fear and dictatorial authoritarian system that was trying to control everything. yet the situation doesn't give us the right to rejoice about the occupation. at least some had said that the occupation, as well as regime at the time, was adjusted when it was in a doing this. do you in security council? the united nations are too weak to play, their real role, even the european union, which america views as a poor, old man on the verge of falling. who dares to hold america accountable? since 2009, i had the idea of establishing an organization in geneva to provide relief to the victims of the occupation and hold iraq's killers accountable. imagine even the tv channel where i worked, terminated my contract, and the owner said he was afraid they will freeze his money in europe for being

supported by me or supporting i returned to iraq trying my best. it was my dream to collect the signatures of all iraqis who are affected by the invasion in order to file a lawsuit against the vice president in his team. i hope that the stream will one day be fulfilled. ah. my fellow americans, major combat operations and iraq have ended in the battle of iraq. the united stage and our allies have prevailed. a with the hurtful fact is that bush ended up a victor like caesar. he walked past his soldiers to hide the signs of the invasion . he committed that the mission was accomplished. but at that moment the mission of destroying iraq began the mission. bringing your act back to the middle ages began

. we know very well that he is a liar and continues to life because his mission iraq has not yet been completed. i wished to say to former u. s. president bush, that i wish to see you in prison before you die. and if that does not happen, i wish before i die to see you face real condemnation. these are just some of the stories from the decades long conflict. we will be bringing you more throughout the next 2 months in our special coverage of the 20th anniversary of one of america's longest wars. ah. to pakistan. now we're at least 5 people are reported injured in an explosion near a police post. the injured have reportedly been taken to the hospital. the emergency forces are operating at the site, which is currently cordoned off. what will media say that the pakistani taliban has

plain responsibility for the attack? nigeria is foreign minister, has praised the current president, anti corruption policy, which has helped to start repatriation of a large amount of loot that was stolen out of the country. that's as the president ward of the possible sponsorship of insecurity and nigeria by foreign countries. one can clearly see how these foreign countries to come the week part of nigeria league shout. well, we have crudo reserves and calls serious ma'am fair, with consistent attacks, to actualize 3rd devilish motives. the country's president noted the exceptional work of, of some forest state governor in opposing for an interference near the lake chad region saying that most local governments near the lake we're in the hands of terrorists when he came to power with most. now free instability remains. a key issue for nigeria is northern province is we're security forces are fighting 813

your work is to hottest and criminal militias. now nigeria is facing new security challenges as it prepares for a presidential election at the end of february. one already accompanied by militant attacks on a pulling station africa's largest royal producer, also faces a worsening shortage of petroleum products as well, those hours for petrol, with new national currency swap. adding to the turbulence we spoke with nigeria st . 2023 presidential candidate, a dumb bar above the 2nd. who thinks that cutting off all links with foreign interests will make the country more stable? is security challenger, the web for cindy in our region predominantly have to do with insecurity in the french speaking with african countries. sorry to very important for us to take vendors drawn mitchells to protect our board. of course, all of these turnover is interest that may come to destroy, blaze are going to be on coast or people,

or we purchased the next election that is coming into the country. once nigeria has nor any link would fall into that dominates how do condo gaseous then it means that nigeria has become a most jebel, most appropriate, impossible, as quantum nigeria, sticking to prompted mental to drain even to briggs completely. just wanted to assume from you again when you do have one up for this, this is clear we up an order was didn't want that is i interested in. of course, if nigel is momentum available to them, then it should be just, i believe. so is the out the we have from forces that are coming from the foreign wall, especially the french that may be interested in, disturb like the material. so out particularly strong brought the middle to prevent the quantity from getting into their hands. overall total is masking, you know, as, as fighting ideology. meanwhile, renada dublin, what important interest the white house has brushed aside the question of palestine military occupation. that's what made us secretary of stay anthony

blankets. recent visit for talks with palestinian president mahmoud abbas. so the question on the, on the occupation side, let me say a couple of things in the point and i believe i do not occupy what is the status that you give, the faster unit, right at this moment. what kind of saturday at said the recent period, i seen a chart not talking about a recent period. i'm saying about legally, all you does against the austin and the wish. what is there stamps? say, i understand the question we're asking, and i, as we've said previously, it is vital for both sides to take action to prevent even greater loss and we condemn any violence, escalation or provocation. the u. s. secretary of state's visit to the region, provoke mass protests and palestine locals took to the street to express their anger at bias by the u. s. foreign policy carrying banners and flags we heard from

people in garza who say blinking visit is meaningless with no practical arrangements to be made. i will is that we're here to express or opposition the blinking visit, which is part of the unlimited your support for israeli occupation carrying out aggressive actions against palestinians. the u. s. pays nothing but lip service to the palestinians, and the visit comes with a new air pressure on the leadership of palestine to roll back the recent moves mainly, a hold of coordination was really security bodies, csr america. or it is crystal clear that the american policy has always been very hostile towards the philistine people. this policy has been completely biased in favor of israel, obviously such a policies based on supporting israel against the palestinian people. the buffer, i believe he said he had held in america, has always been known as the incubator for israel and many, all they tyranny. iran, the world's blinking comes here and content that jerusalem shoot out of his rallies, carried out by the postiani youth carry icon on the country. lincoln did not

condemn the nittany audit crime against palestinians, according to the special coordinator for the middle east peace process. 2022 was the dead leaves year for the palestinians in the west bank since records began in 2005 more than 100 attacks were committed against palestinian civilians by israeli forces last year. in contrast, israeli officials plain but country faced an unprecedented tear away from palestine since the beginning of 2022. meanwhile, the palestinian health minister gave an exclusive interview to r t. or she discussed issues like the health systems crisis, israeli restrictions the occupation and much more to get more on this story. and on the other use head over to r t dot com for the latest updates. that was a weekly with the hour and weeks most vital news stories and the u. s. was never interested in disarmament, but in regime change says former chief un weapons inspector to iraq. scott ritter,

who gave our teen exclusive interview on what he witnessed. watch it shortly. after a quick break, we'll see you back at the top of the hour. ah ah. riskier considering confused with some sort of baltimore go north or buell with white glove, you know, who do mumbles with.